Remember—Son’s War: Episode 17

by dramallama

Are you there, Dad? It’s me, Jin-woo. Sometimes I wonder if you’re actually watching over me, since I’ve been through some tough times since you’ve left. It’s been a long time coming, but I think I’ve finally cornered our enemy. But I have to be careful, since my memory is slowly fading and our enemies are pretty evil. Surely, I’ll run into more bumps in the road, but I will find justice. Eventually. Hopefully.

 
EPISODE 17 RECAP

While working in his office, Dong-ho gets an urgent call from Sang-ho about Joo-il’s sudden coma state. He rushes out, and the masked killer enters the empty office to plant the murder knife there.

At Joo-il’s bedside, Dong-ho resolves that he’s out for blood. There’s no backing down now. But the next morning, Officer Bae arrests Dong-ho for attempted murder, and his men find the conveniently planted murder weapon. Dong-ho knows he’s been framed but doesn’t protest as he’s led out in handcuffs.

Jin-woo watches with an incredulous look, skeptical of what’s really going on. Team Jin-woo seem equally skeptical that Dong-ho would have attempted to kill his father figure. Jin-woo speculates that Dong-ho has fallen into the trap set up by you-know-who.

Meanwhile, Gyu-man doesn’t question this turn of events at all. He shrugs it off as the disloyal nature of gangsters, and Prosecutor Hong vows to fully clip Jin-woo wings in the next trial.

Sang-ho updates Dong-ho that Joo-il’s condition hasn’t improved and that most of Joo-il’s underlings have fled. Dong-ho realizes that his hyungnim risked his life trying to protect him and asks Sang-ho to watch over Joo-il for him.

President Nam’s new favorite tool, Prosecutor Tak, leaves with a mocking smile as Prosecutor Hong enters with an update. He tells President Nam that Joo-il’s attempted murder was covered up with money and assures him that Gyu-man is oblivious to Papa Nam’s involvement.

Against Dong-ho’s request, Sang-ho begs Jin-woo to defend Dong-ho in court. He must know that Dong-ho would never attempt to murder Joo-il. But it’s a heavy request — considering how deeply Dong-ho’s betrayal impacted Jin-woo and Dad. Sang-ho continues to plead, but In-ah sternly asks him to leave. He’s asking for too much.

In his cell, Dong-ho thinks back to his blissfully ignorant days with Joo-il, when they enjoyed the benefits of working under Il-ho without facing the consequences. He’s enraged by the manipulation and sits powerlessly in the dark.

President Nam has been paying the medical bills for Officer Bae’s ill father, and Officer Bae expresses his gratitude when prompted by Prosecutor Hong. He’s given another task, and if completed well, they will lift the barriers that have been blocking his promotion. Officer Bae bows like a loyal dog, and he seems to have forgotten that the barriers were put in place by Il-ho in the first place.

Yeo-kyung sees Seok-gyu at the courthouse, and they grab coffee to talk about Gyu-man. Seok-gyu laments that Gyu-man won’t get by with just this case, and Yeo-kyung suspects that he’s talking about the Seochon murder.

Confronting her father about her brother’s crimes, Yeo-kyung asserts that she can’t cover up a murder. She demands that he stop covering up for her brother, and he slaps her. Papa Nam berates her for trying to jeopardize the heir to their company, and she looks at him with tearful resentment.

Gyu-man “feels bad” for his sister’s scolding and then turns to Secretary Ahn about keeping a good eye on Ha-young, since she’s been causing all the inconveniences in court. Secretary Ahn acts obedient and responds that he’ll add an additional person to follow her.

Gyu-man visits Dong-ho to feed his ego, but Dong-ho remains calm and seems amused by Gyu-man’s ignorance. He tells clueless Gyu-man that he doesn’t know his own father, who orchestrated this whole ordeal. Then he tells Gyu-man that his judgment day is coming and leans in closer with a final warning, “Jin-woo will kill you.” And of course, Gyu-man has another fit.

The judge tells Prosecutor Chae and Prosecutor Hong that he will accept the submitted video evidence as legitimate, which gives Prosecutor Chae the opportunity to gather more women who were victims of Gyu-man’s crimes. The USB file contained clips of more women like Ha-young, and the judge agrees that more testimonies will corroborate the case.

Prosecutor Chae asks In-ah to search for similar cases through Ha-young, and Prosecutor Hong urgently meets with Gyu-man. He asks Gyu-man to recollect any similar cases to Ha-young so that they can secure a witness for their side.

In-ah asks Ha-young about any colleagues during her training days who suffered similar injustices, but Ha-young has lost contact with many of them since then.

Sang-ho waits for Jin-woo outside the firm and asks him again to defend Dong-ho. Though Jin-woo knows that Dong-ho is innocent, he refuses to defend a traitor. Sang-ho tries to clear the misunderstanding by explaining Dong-ho’s intentions: He tried to reveal the confession video of Gyu-man during the retrial, but he was stopped by Joo-il. Sang-ho begs that Jin-woo reconsider.

Inside his alcove, Jin-woo looks at the pictures of Dong-ho on his Il-ho wall and thinks about Dong-ho’s ambiguous support. He seems to be reconsidering.

Gyu-man meets with Prosecutor Hong, who introduces the prosecutor charging Dong-ho. Gyu-man’s malicious curiosity has him wondering what would happen if Joo-il died, and the prosecutor tells him that the charge would be advanced to murder. Since Joo-il is barely hanging in there, Gyu-man figures that a murder charge wouldn’t be too difficult to achieve.

When Ha-young nears her apartment building, she spots threatening men lurking outside. She immediately calls In-ah, and they meet to discuss her options. In-ah tells her that Gyu-man’s people will keep trying to confront her, so In-ah offers her place as a temporary haven. When they arrive at In-ah’s place, her parents welcome Ha-young warmly and praise her for staying strong. Aww.

Prosecutor Hong visits Detective Kwak, who flippantly hums along to hymns with a bible in hand. He’s warned to stay quiet and obedient, since Il-ho’s power can infiltrate the prison. If he thought he was safe locked up in prison, think again. Detective Kwak responds, “Amen.”

Seok-gyu ends up as the judge on Dong-ho’s trial, and Secretary Ahn relays this information to Gyu-man. All of Gyu-man’s annoyances are gathered in this one trail, and he complains about this coincidence.

In-ah tells Jin-woo this information as well and assures him that Judge Seok-gyu will make a discreet judgment. She can tell that Jin-woo’s still conflicted about taking Dong-ho’s case, so she takes him out for a stroll at a park. As they walk, In-ah advises him to defend Dong-ho and trust Gyu-man’s case with her and Prosecutor Chae.

Jin-woo wonders why his fate is so twisted and intertwined with Dong-ho’s. He asks if he should reject the case, but In-ah clears his thoughts by simplifying the matter. He’s been worrying all day because he doesn’t want innocent people like his father to suffer unjust punishments. She trusts that he’ll make the right decision.

Secretary Ahn and Sang-ho share their misery with a drink. Sang-ho says that he’ll die without Dong-ho, but Secretary Ahn tells him to be strong and find a way to live. As for himself, he may need to flee this country before Gyu-man kills him for what he’s done. It’s a real concern, but Secretary Ahn plays it off as a joke.

Broody Dong-ho makes an appearance in his dark cell. It’s dark, he’s broody. Yeah.

Gyu-man finds Ha-young’s friend, Park Min-hee, who now works quietly at a flower shop. When he walks in, she freezes and avoids eye contact. Gyu-man says that she must’ve missed him and forces her to look him in the eyes. It’s basic etiquette, or does she think he’s not human? (yes) She quickly makes eye contact and promises to do as told. Gyu-man gives her another stash of cash and tells her act appropriately if she appears in court.

In-ah and Lawyer Song are a step late in their search for Min-hee, so by the time they arrive at the flower shop to persuade her, she immediately turns them down.

Jin-woo meets with Dong-ho and asks him if he attempted to kill Joo-il. It’s the exact assumption Dong-ho made when he met with Jin-woo’s father back when he first decided to defend Dad. In response, Dad claimed that he didn’t kill Jung-ah and told Dong-ho not defend him if he didn’t believe the truth. The situation is paralleled in this exchange, and Dong-ho claims that he didn’t try to kill Joo-il.

Jin-woo tells Dong-ho to listen closely, “I’m not taking this case for you; I’m taking it so that I can get Nam Il-ho and Nam Gyu-man to admits their sins. The truth doesn’t reveal itself, so I’m going to force them to reveal it.” Dong-ho cracks the slightest of smiles.

Lawyer Song thinks Jin-woo is crazy for defending Dong-ho, but Jin-woo claims that he’s considering Dong-ho as just another client. To begin his investigation, Jin-woo meets with Officer Bae to discuss any inconsistencies in his investigation. Officer Bae gives him the rehearsed answer and immediately calls Prosecutor Hong after Jin-woo leaves.

When Gyu-man gets this information, he struggles to makes sense of why Jin-woo would defend the person who contributed to his father’s death. He presumes that there must be some deal between the two.

Prosecutor Tak commends Prosecutor Hong’s extensive work in maintaining Il-ho’s image, but their buddy-buddy moment is interrupted by Prosecutor Chae. She remains firm in her path for justice, despite Prosecutor Hong’s warning.

Gyu-man complains about his packed schedule and tells Secretary Ahn to redo his busy schedule. Secretary Ahn apologizes and quickly checks a text from Seok-gyu, which reads: “I’ll give that evidence to the people who need it most.” Gyu-man reads over his shoulder and asks what the evidence is. Secretary quickly covers up the moment by explaining that it’s a text from his girlfriend. Phew.

Seok-gyu hands over the bloodied corkscrew and the test results to Jin-woo and In-ah. Although Gyu-man is his friend, Seok-gyu knows that this is the right move. Jin-woo thanks him for providing this crucial piece of evidence and promises to utilize it well to dig up all of Gyu-man’s hidden crimes.

In the second hearing, Prosecutor Hong confidently calls upon his witness, Min-hee. She walks to the stand, and he asks for confirmation that Ha-young liked Gyu-man. Min-hee pauses and then denies this fact.

Gyu-man and Prosecutor Hong lose face, and we see that In-ah returned to visit Min-hee with Ha-young. In-ah compassionately pleads, “To protect others like you, we need your courage. If someone before you had the courage to take a stand, you may not have become victims of this violence.” Ha-young tells Min-hee that she’s grown stronger by speaking for herself in court, and she urges her friend to join her. In-ah adds, “Before being a lawyer, I am a woman. Place your trust in us.”

Back in court, Min-hee testifies that she was also raped by Gyu-man and takes out his bribe money as evidence that he tried to shut her up. To follow that up, Prosecutor Chae charges Gyu-man for his attempt at destroying evidence.

Outside the courtroom, Ha-young holds her friend’s hands and thanks her for her courage. Min-hee promises to support and help her going forward, and In-ah watches with a grateful smile.

Meanwhile, Jin-woo investigates the scene of Joo-il’s attempted murder. He sees potential for more evidence in the windshield camera and the footprints leading towards and away from the car. He consults with a forensic scientist, who shows him evidence of a struggle in Joo-il’s fingernails. The marks of the struggle would also be evident on the actual culprit.

President Nam sees the news of Gyu-man’s trial and decides that he can’t entrust the company with Gyu-man. But Gyu-man fails to see this trial as his fault — it was Prosecutor Hong’s job to defend him, so he’s to blame for the outcome. Despite his protests, President Nam orders Gyu-man to take his hands off all company work for now.

Jin-woo records himself, this time a message for Dad. He apologizes to Dad for deciding to defend Dong-ho in court. The next day in an empty courtroom, Jin-woo waits anxiously for the trial to begin.

Dong-ho enters the courtroom and walks shamefully to the seat next to his lawyer, Jin-woo. Before the trial begins, Jin-woo tells Dong-ho that he’ll defend him until the end — even though Dong-ho didn’t defend Dad — since it’s a lawyer’s responsibility to protect the defendant. Seok-gyu enters as the judge, the trial begins.

The prosecution uses the car camera footage to show that the estimated time of the attack matches the recorded time that Dong-ho entered the car. But Jin-woo has more evidence from the scene that was not included in the police report. He brings up the photos of two separate footprints as evidence that there was a third party in this attack.

Next, the prosecution presents the knife as evidence. It was found in Dong-ho’s office, but it didn’t have Dong-ho’s fingerprints, which the prosecutor credits to the use of gloves. The markings on the handle indicate the use of leather gloves.

Jin-woo begins to argue about the lack of fingerprints, but his thoughts suddenly wander to the fake corkscrew that incriminated his father. Lost in his thoughts, he blurts out that the weapon is fake. His memory begins to fade into the past, and Jin-woo claims that the defendant has Alzheimer’s.

Everyone gets confused, but In-ah tears up as she realizes that Jin-woo is forgetting. He boldly asserts that the defendant did not kill Oh Jung-ah and looks around the courtroom in a daze.

 
COMMENTS

This is so painful and sad to watch. It’s like watching a puppy flounder in the water while you’re stuck at the sidelines. There’s no winning for Jin-woo because even his conscience is forcing him to make the most difficult and painful decisions. And since deciding to defend a traitor isn’t hard enough, Jin-woo has to relive the memory of his father’s trial.

Literally locking up Dong-ho didn’t really have any effect on the flow of the story, which just comes to show how locked up he already was figuratively. Stuck in between the Nams, Joo-il, and Jin-woo, he could barely move without someone getting injured. After tipping the balance he’s been maintaining in the middle, we see Joo-il’s downfall. If he can carefully gage the correct position in between these three points, there’s definitely a way to bring down the Nams. Dong-ho is key.

Omg I thought Secretary Ahn was a goner when was caught with that text. I held my breath, preparing for the worst of Gyu-man, but his bird brain came to the rescue. I’m done with Gyu-man and need him to stop before he implodes from all the evil that’s stored in his soul. That’s possible, right? Spontaneous combustion due to toxic waste? Because I don’t believe Gyu-man is human anymore, he’s just a cloud of poisonous gas that just needs to vanish. I thought we would get some redemption with some family backstory, but it’s not important anymore because he’s too far gone. It’s just a matter of time until he drowns in his own corruption.

We began to see the corrosion of Gyu-man’s power with our two courageous women taking the stand to tell the truth. I loved how these women empowered themselves by sharing the truth despite Gyu-man’s attempts to victimize them. There’s nothing like the truth to flip the power of money into something so worthless. Gyu-man’s will to manipulate the world to his favor is surely becoming futile.

In-ah was the mover and shaker of this episode, empowering our key characters with empathy and encouragement. Her calm assertion helped ground our characters to be in tune with their own emotions. As Jin-woo gradually loses steam, she’s becoming the driver of this battle. She’s a strong silent force who leads her people with heart and turns stoically ruthless when dealing with the enemy. So if Jin-woo can’t eventually hopefully stop Gyu-man, In-ah sure can. Amen to that.

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